Using the PIP analysis to help plan your retirement

Not sure how to begin to plan for what you’ll do in your retirement? Here’s a simple way to begin—do a PIP analysis.

P—passion

Ask yourself one question: What is my passion? Some will find that question difficult to answer. Others will find it difficult to keep it to one passion. That’s OK.

A passion can be described as a ‘strong emotion of desire’. But it’s more. It’s something that drives you.

Brenda Palmer is a good illustration of a woman with a passion. You’ll find her featured in my book Refusing to Retire. She has worked for 50 years at a Coles supermarket. She’s 85 years of age.

That has nothing to do with her passion. Her passion is the Richmond Football Club (Australian Football League). She attends every match in Melbourne and as many interstate as she can. More than this, she’s at their grounds every Wednesday for their mid-week run through.

Her passion for her club makes her do those kinds of things. A passion can be for a club, or a venture, or a cause to change the world in some way.

The movie National Treasure provides another definition for passion when Benjamin Gates (Nicolas Cage) says to Riley Poole (Justin Bartha), ‘We don’t need someone crazy. But one step short of crazy, what do you get?’

Riley: ‘Obsessed.’

Gates: ‘Passionate.’

There’s a truth that some passions seem—especially to those who don’t understand—one step short of crazy. And that’s OK, too.

What is it that drives you? To do what? And how can you follow it or develop it further in your retirement?

I—interests

No definition needed here. What are your interests? It could be a hobby, it could be working in the garden, or it could be caravanning. For some, it could be all three of those—or none of them.

The list is as long as your personal interests. Retirement gives you the time and opportunity to work on your interests and develop them further.

It’s worth listing your interests to imagine how they could fit together. For instance, a caravaner/gardener from the southern states of Australia may plan to dust off the caravan and travel north for the winter months when the garden is dormant.

P—priorities

Finally, what are your priorities in retirement? This is asking what is important to you in your retirement. And it could range from such things as independence; personal health; giving back to the community; family; self-improvement and so on.

Having worked out your priorities, the next step is to plan how you will make them happen. For instance, if self-improvement is your goal, identify what you mean by that (maybe it’s learning a language; joining a club; studying at university) and how you can achieve this as a goal.

If keeping good health is a priority, work out a plan to make that happen. Does this mean a change in eating patterns? Does it involve a regular exercise program? A more balanced life? Working out the practical steps allows you to make it a part of your retirement plan.

Obviously, some priorities need working on before retirement.

If you’re a couple

If you and your partner are retiring together it would be helpful for you to both do the PIP analysis and then compare notes. This is important because it will help you understand what your partner is thinking.

There will be some things you will want to do together, but other things you will do separately. What this process does is help you to understand each other’s thinking.

If you aren’t planning to retire together (which is not unusual), it’s also a good idea to share your PIP analysis so he/she will have some idea of what you’re planning. Your partner’s support will help you achieve your retirement plan.

A fascinating experiment found that retirees who were encouraged to envisage their retirement wanted to save 31% more of their pay for retirement than those who hadn’t imagined theirs. Visualising can have an impact because it imagines a future possibility. By imagining it, we’re more prepared to make it happen.

In theory, the Age Pension age is set as the minimum age at which a typical senior is considered no longer able to work enough hours to generate the income needed for a modest standard of living. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t work.

After taking the previous steps to this point, it’s now time to enjoy the harvest and to celebrate. What you’ve planted and nurtured on the inside, should now begin to produce a harvest on the outside.

The YourLifeChoices Retirement Affordability Index aims to help you understand how much money you currently need to live at various levels and lifestyles in retirement. In this issue, there’s a helpful discussion about how to make your Superannuation go further.

You are no doubt aware they exist. You may have seen them on foodie blogs, Instagram feeds or on the menu at your local café. Wholegrains are an important food group essential to a healthy diet. Read on to find out why they are so wonderful and how you can eat more!